


I Will Follow You Into the Dark

by Snubberdoodle



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, M/M, This is kind of evil of me, barely requited love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 08:29:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20812121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snubberdoodle/pseuds/Snubberdoodle
Summary: Love of mine, someday you will dieBut I'll be close behind and I'll follow you into the darkNo blinding light or tunnels to gates of whiteJust our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a sparkWhat would happen if the losers couldn't pull Richie out of the sewers in time?





	I Will Follow You Into the Dark

“Hey Rich wake up!” Eddie was ecstatic as Richie blinked, color reappearing in his eyes as the effects of the deadlights faded away. He had been worried for a moment there that they wouldn’t but felt reassured as life began to return to Richie’s eyes as this meant It was almost surely dead. He smiled and leaned over him, shaking his shoulder to get his attention, “Hey,” he said again, grinning even wider as their eyes met, “Yeah, yeah there he is buddy! Hey Richie, listen: I think I got it man.” He paused to look around the vast cavern. The rest of the losers were fine save for a few shell shocked expressions and there hadn’t been a peep from Pennywise since Richie had come to. Surely that could only mean one thing. They’d done it. They’d won. Eddie could not have been more delighted as he continued, “I think I killed it. I did! I think I killed it for rea-” His victory was suddenly cut off, a wet, meaty crunch shattering the previous ease. It was the exact same sound his arm had made twenty-seven years ago and as he glanced down at the claw bursting through his chest and the blood that covered just about all of Richie that he could see, he understood why.

Beverley screamed. Richie looked equal parts shocked and horrified, his whisper of, “Eddie…” broken and disbelieving as he stared up at him. Eddie met his gaze for just a moment before sparing another glance down at his own body. It was horrible. His brain hadn’t yet caught up with his body until he opened his mouth to speak.

“Richie…” The word forced a mouthful of blood out through his mouth and down onto Richie’s shirt. The shock was wearing off and he was beginning to feel the full force of his pain. It was a crushing, stinging, aching pain that worsened with every rapid heartbeat. He looked down again at the claw bursting from his chest, unable to believe what was happening. Blood hung from his lips like drool from a hungry dog as he looked back up at Richie, tears forcing their way up from his throat. 

“Rich-” He was wrenched back, lifted into the air as another strained cry of his friend’s name was cut short by a pained cry. Pennywise made a gloating noise as it waved him about in the air like a flag at a sports rally. He could barely hear it’s taunts over his own agonized shouts and the whoosh of the stale air around him. He had never in his life been in this much pain. He could feel the hole in his torso widening, new pieces of his body tearing open as he was flung about. It was torture: and then it was over. The claw disappeared from his chest and he was soaring towards one of the many clefts in the walls of the grand cavern they were in. He hit the floor over and over again as he rolled down into its depths, leaving behind a thin trail of red.

Maybe he blacked out for a moment or maybe his friends really were that fast because the next thing he knew he was being propped up by someone. He couldn’t tell who it was. It was dark and his vision was starting to get away from him. Someone else was saying to “Be careful.” He wasn’t sure if it was directed at him or at whoever was propping him up. He sure hoped it wasn’t directed at him because he was fairly sure he’d already failed. Pennywise taunted them from above, laughing and slamming its claws down against rocks that crumbled from the blows. He felt something soft, a shirt maybe, being pressed into his wound and heard over his cry of pain.

“He’s hurt really bad we-we gotta get him out of here.” The worried voice came from whoever was kneeling in front of him.

“How are we supposed to do that Richie?” Ah. Of course it was Richie. The question brought with it a silence that, even with Pennywise pounding at the rocks above them, was deafening. Richie looked back and forth between him and whoever he had been speaking to, looking desperate and afraid, searching for an answer he didn’t seem able to find. They really didn’t know what to do, did they. Eddie waded through his pain-addled thoughts for something that could help, some piece of information that might put something resembling hope back into the hearts of his friends.

“I almost killed him.” he said with some effort. They all turned to look at him and he continued, “The leper. My hands were at his throat. I could feel him choking. I made him small.” The pain wasn’t easing up. He had to push through tormented breaths to make a point he could only hope they would understand. “He seemed so weak…” Talking was making him feel tired. “He seemed so weak...” he trailed off, unsure if he’d been able to say anything relevant. There was a brief pause where his friends all looked at each other with what he hoped were emboldened looks on their faces. It was then that Mike spoke up in a tone that comforted him. They had understood what he’d meant.

“The Shokopiwah: all living things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit!” Nothing after that was all that clear. Staying focused on his surroundings was getting harder and harder. He couldn’t breathe right. His whole body felt wrong, like nothing inside him wanted to work properly anymore. The others were talking, hope in their voices again, and he was happy to have helped out. Pennywise was roaring something at them again and he was being lifted into the air. As he was dragged through a crack in the rock he heard it again: “Be careful,” like he was a porcelain doll that would crack if you nudged it from too high a shelf. Though he thought he might now have a better understanding of what they went through. Every step was agony. He could feel splintered ribs rubbing against each other, creating the internal sensation of nails on a chalkboard and new that if he kept going like this he would pass out.

“I need a lil’ rest…” he croaked. The two who were holding him up rushed to set him down as carefully as they could. “Ah thanks.” He cut himself off slightly, crying out as he was settled against a rough wall. Pieces of his body were shifting around inside him in ways they were never meant to and it fucking hurt. Richie seemed to notice this, squatting down in front of him with as genuine a smile as he could manage and a soft “Hey,” as he put a hand on his shoulder. It was sweet, but it was also an opportunity. 

“Hey Rich. I gotta tell you somethin’.” His guard was down like it never would be again. Eddie had spent years suffering through Richie’s jokes, years of thinking they were sharing a tender moment until he was proven wrong by an entirely uncalled for comment about his mother. It was about time the bastard knew how it felt to be on the receiving end.

“What? What’s up buddy?” Richie’s eyes were bright as he replied, ready to hang onto Eddie’s every word. God he was gonna get his ass good.

“I fucked your mother.”The look on his face was priceless. Eddie laughed hard at his own joke the way Richie used to always do. Except that it hurt. His laughter became a pained cough, expelling even more blood from his body. He supposed they’d have time to laugh about it when they got out of there. Richie looked at him in disbelief, unable to process what he’d said for a moment before cracking a real smile. He remembered.

“No you didn’t.” Richie clocked him lightly on his injured cheek with the hand that wasn’t pressing his jacket into Eddie’s stomach and Eddie let out a meaningless, “Ow.” It wasn’t that he couldn’t feel it, because he still could, it was just that the pain from the knife wound felt so distant compared to the agony that pulsed from his stomach. His breathing was more ragged now and his vision was slipping in and out. He could barely feel his legs anymore. Through a haze he heard distant screams and wondered briefly where they were coming from before he noticed the rest of their friends had gone. It was just the two of them.

“Can’t trust me to look after myself?” Eddie challenged with a weak smile. Richie looked at him confused for a moment before he glanced around, noticing the same thing Eddie had a moment ago. It didn’t seem like he’d been aware of it either. He quickly recovered, however, smiling a somewhat strained smile as he replied,

“Fuck no, are you kidding? You get paranoid about walking through lit parking lots by yourself, you’d probably faint if I left you alone down here.” Normally, in response to a comment like that, he would scowl and deny everything. Mock fury at being made fun of by one of his best friends while the rest roared with laughter. But now there was no one here to laugh and he was too tired to argue. He just let out a soft huff of laughter and a, “Fuck you,” that was too quiet to sound anything other than loving. Richie looked at him then with something in his eyes that Eddie couldn’t quite make out. Something sad and afraid and… for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what else. He leaned in to try and get a closer look, squinting and groaning as the movement shot pain like a bullet down his spine. Their noses pressed against each other for just a heartbeat and Richie leapt back as though Eddie has just struck him. Whatever mixed bag had been floating in his eyes was gone, replaced by a deep-seated fear that Eddie did not understand. Why was Richie afraid of him?

“Richie…?” He trailed off, not entirely sure what he wanted to ask.  
“I gotta go Eds,” Richie said in a rush, “Sounds like they need some help with cleanup over on isle Pennywise.” Indeed, Eddie could hear what sounded like their friends shouting down the clown in the distance. Richie’s hands were on his, bringing them together and placing them over his jacket. “Hold this here, yeah?” Eddie nodded, putting all he had into pressing them against his wound even as spots of white started to obscure his vision. He felt more than saw Richie put his hands on either side of his head and tried to look him in the eyes as he said something Eddie didn’t catch. He nodded when it seemed like Richie was done, mumbling a lighthearted, “Whatever you say, man,” hoping this would satisfy him. Richie let out a small huff of laughter, face breaking into that same kind smile he had worn right before they had descended into this hellhole. There was a brief pause then, a nervous sort of hesitation, before Eddie felt a gentle pressure against his grimy lips. Cracked glasses bumped into his nose and he knew just before it ended that Richie had kissed him. That explained the fear, Eddie supposed. It explained a lot, actually. He only wished the idiot had done something about it sooner. He wanted so badly to let Richie know it was okay, that he wasn’t alone in this but was too tired to do more than smile and bring a shaky hand up to his face. Well, he tried to at least. Richie had to do a lot of the work to actually get it there. They stayed that way for just a second before Richie started to pull away.

“Come back soon.” Eddie muttered, barely conscious. The last thing he heard, or at least he thought he heard, was a promise. A quiet promise that just a tad too somber to be reassuring. 

“I will.” Then Richie’s hands were gone and after a moment alone in that dark place with nothing but the lights in his eyes and the distant rumble of his friends’ voices, so was Eddie.

<~> 

They’d done it. They’d won. The rest of the Losers were hugging and smiling small, relieved smiles; reveling in the exhausted afterglow of their victory. Beverly put her arm around his shoulders and for one high flying moment Richie almost let himself get swept away by it. Then he remembered. Shaking his head he muttered,

“Eddie-Eddie.” and rushed back to where he was resting. His friends were right behind him as he knelt down by Eddie’s side. He put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly into a blank face.

“Eddie wake up man.” He was dead. Richie put a hand on his cheek, not wanting to believe it.

“Eddie?” He took in the sight before him. Eddie’s hand was limp as it lay over his jacket, both covered in a slick layer of blood. There was nothing in the eyes that Richie was so desperately searching. The earth above their heads began to quake and he heard Bill say quietly over his shoulder,

“He’s gone.” As much as he didn’t want to, Richie knew he was right. He brought his head down on Eddie’s shoulder, sucking in shaky, painful breaths. He was gone. He felt a hand on his back, softly but firmly tugging on his shirt. Trying to pull him away from Eddie. He let it pull him back a little bit, turning around to meet the eyes of whoever was tugging on his shoulder as he tried his best to swallow the tears that were pounding away at his throat. It was Ben. His voice was heavy as he spoke,

“Richie, he’s gone. We have to go.” Richie shook his head and leaned once again into Eddie’s body. He was still warm. Richie was crying in earnest now. His shoulders were shaking as he slid a hand through Eddie’s greasy hair, holding him tight. He couldn’t leave him here. He wouldn’t. There were two sets of hands on him now, pulling more urgently as the thunder of quaking earth grew louder. Bill spoke up again, 

“We have to leave him, Rich. He’s gone, we can’t help him. We need to start moving.” The hands were demanding in their attempts to pry him off of Eddie but Richie held firm, breaking his embrace only to look up at desperately Bill with red rimmed eyes.

“Let me say goodbye,” he pleaded in a cracked voice. It must have struck a chord with Bill because he looked around, taking in the shaking walls and falling rock, and still turned back with a sympathetic look on his face.

“Quickly.” His voice cautioned Richie not to take too long, eyes flashing him a warning as he began ushering the others towards their exit. Richie nodded at him, saying without words that he would listen. He was lying. He wasn’t going to leave Eddie down here by himself. He couldn’t blame them for leaving; they all had things they wanted to return to after all. While the others were a good few steps ahead, Beverly was holding back. If she knew his intentions she didn’t say, her voice carrying the same warning as Bill’s as she said, 

“Richie, come on.” Fear and guilt bubbled up in his gut and he worried he would throw up again as he turned to her. He tried his best to look sincere as he replied,

“Go, I’m right behind you.” She nodded, clearly believing him as she turned away. This twisted his stomach worse than anything else had so far. He just about stood up to follow her but as he turned back to Eddie, blank eyes staring unseeingly ahead of him, he knew that he couldn’t. A huge chunk of rock slammed to the ground with a deafening crack, breaking in two as Richie shook out his jacket to lay like a blanket over his friend. He wasn’t going anywhere.

“I feel like I should say something,” he said almost conversationally, “I just have no idea what.” He sat down beside his friend, looking out at the whirlwind of otherworldly dust and rubble that swirled around the cavern. He knew what he wanted to say. He’d known what he’d wanted to say to Eddie since he was thirteen years old but even now as he lay dead, even now that Richie was soon to join him, he still couldn’t do it. He was still too afraid. Afraid of the what if, of the just maybe. Afraid to do anything more than hold his hand and wish. So, that was what he did. As the world came crashing down around them Richie reached out a shaking hand and held onto Eddie’s as tightly as he could. It was cold and limp, coated in blood and God knows what else, but Richie didn’t care. If this was all he would ever get then it was all that he wanted. A boulder easily twice the size of either of them was hurtling their way at a speed that should have been impossible. Richie’s heart was pounding out of his chest. He closed his eyes, too scared to look death in the face as he put his head down on Eddie’s shoulder one last time.

“I’ll see you soon Eds.” He was by no means a God fearing man. Hadn’t been in years. But if he thought he saw someone approaching him out of the black depths that sat behind his eyelids, someone short and beautiful to him in an impossibly mundane way, then perhaps he could have been. He sucked in one final, shaky breath and then he, too, was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> If what we got in the movie is the true ending and all those Eddie lives aus are the good ending, then this is the bad ending. This horrid creation was obviously inspired by listening to I Will Follow You Into the Dark Death Cab for Cutie but it was also incredibly influenced by Private Fears in Public Places by Front Porch Step. Anyway like and subscribe. Tell me how evil I am. Thanks bye.


End file.
